I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Amos chapter 8. Now if you happen to have a Bible
like I got, you can turn in the Old Testament to page 1147. 1147.
Amos chapter 8. And verse 11, Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine
of bread, nor thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the
Lord. You know, no rational person can fail to be moved with compassion
at the sight of suffering that is endured by those in a place
that is plagued with a natural famine. You know, these pictures
come on TV and different ones and so these children that are
suffering and that, it's horrible. It's horrible. I know But as
dreadful as a famine would be in any land, there is revealed
in this passage of Scripture a more alarming famine than even
a natural famine. And here's what it is of hearing the words of the Lord. Amos was a prophet that was sent
to the nation of Israel. That's where God was sending
the prophets. All the prophets went to the
nation of Israel. Now you think about the mercy
of God. The grace of God that would send a little country like
Israel. God chose to bless the nation
of Israel. And he sent, he gave his law
to Moses to the nation of Israel. He sent prophets to the nation
of Israel. He gave the priest the tabernacle
The sacrifices to Israel. And he sent this word through
a prophet named Amos. He said, the days come that I'm
going to send a famine in the land. He said, it's not going
to be of food and water. He said, you're going to have
plenty to eat, plenty to drink, Your businesses are going to
do well. You're going to be able to live in prosperity. But I'm going to send a famine,
not of those outward things. But it's going to be a famine
of hearing the words of the Lord. And the word that he used when
he said, I'm going to send a famine of hearing the words of the Lord,
it's not a word that means you won't be able to actually hear
the words being preached. But he said, what I'm going to
do is, he said, I'm going to send you a famine concerning
being able to hear those words with attention and with interest. and with a heart. What he's saying is this, I'm
going to give you what you want. I'm going to give you what you
want. Now I want to make something vitally clear right now, because
I don't want anybody thinking, you know, what Where is this
going? What's the deal here? Now listen,
I want you to understand that in the nation of Israel, and
the nation of Israel was a picture, it was a type of God's true Israel,
the true church. And found within natural Israel,
natural Israel, back in the Old Testament, the country, Those
Jewish people found within the nation of Israel were just like
today. Two different types of people
in Israel. There were two different types
of people in Israel. Sheep and goats. God's elect
and those that God was pleased to leave to themselves. In the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ, there's sheep and wheat. There's
wheat and tares, right now. Now, I'm going to be honest with
you in the preparing of this message. This very well may be
one of the most convicting messages that I've ever prepared for me. One of the most convicting. Just like there were sheep and
goats, wheat and tares in that nation, it's the same thing today. So whenever we hear that God's
going to send a famine of bread, not of bread and water, but of
hearing the words of the Lord, I can tell you this, and I'm
going to bring this out in this message. He's telling his people,
he said, I will never forsake you. I will never forsake you. I'll never leave you to yourself. I will never leave you destitute. Never, never, never. But there are some that God said,
I'm going to send a famine to you. May the Lord be pleased to have
mercy on this center right here. There were some found within
the nation of Israel when the word of the Lord was sent. It
was evident whenever the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world. And who did He go to first? Well,
He went to the house of Israel. That's where he went. That's
where he went. He was born in Bethlehem and he preached within
the nation of Israel. That's who he preached to. Now
let me ask you this. How many heard the words of the
Lord? Well, all of them. They were
all in the synagogues. I mean, they went to the synagogues
on the Sabbath day because that was the law. That was what they
were to do. And they heard the Scriptures
read. They heard the Scriptures read.
They all heard them read. Raising kids up. Those kids went
to church. Where are you going to be on
Saturday? You're going to be in church. That's where you're going to
be. They all heard the Word. But it became evident. that when
the Lord Jesus Christ went about preaching the gospel of the kingdom,
some of them heard what he was saying and rejected it. But there were some blind Barnimaeuses,
and there were some Zacchaeuses, and there were some Saul of Tarsuses,
and there were some like that, that the Lord was pleased to
call out of darkness. But there were some that heard
the same words that were being preached. And they said this,
I'm not going to hear what you have to say. To those the Lord speaks. when he says, I'm going to send
a famine. Now, based on what I just told
you now, let's hear what God has to say concerning this truth. And may the Lord teach us through
His Word and may we hear the Word of the Lord and may the
Lord revive His people. Because I can tell you this,
we're all prone, all of us, all of God's sheep are prone to laxness. That's one of the greatest fears
that I, well that is, that's the greatest fear that I got.
That's the greatest fear that I've got, what the Lord is going
to bring out. Finding myself and seeing myself
having a leanness. Now listen, let's just look at
this for a few minutes. Amos chapter 8 verse 1, hath
the Lord God showed unto me, and behold, a basket of summer
fruit. And he said, Amos, what seest
thou? And I said, A basket of summer
fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon my people
of Israel. I will not again pass by them
any more. He sent the word to Israel. And obviously there were some
that received not His Word. And this is what He said, I am
not going to pass by them in correcting chastisement. I'm going to leave them alone
and execute vengeance by sending a spiritual famine. Now, that
is a word of utter hopelessness now. He said, Amos, that basket
of summer fruit, that fruit that will decay very quickly, What
are you seeing? I see that summer fruit. He said,
that decaying fruit that you're looking at is going to be a symbol
of my people that I've sent the word to and they've refused to
hear. He said, I'm not going to chase
them anymore. When my kids were growing up,
I've told you before, I would tell them, I said, now let me
tell you what it's going to be. For disobedience, I'm going to
spank you. I'm going to spank you. If I were to have told one of
them one day, I'm not going to spank you anymore. You just go
do what you want to do and you'll be whatever you do, you'll do
that and I'm going to deal with these three over here. Now the
three other ones I'm going to deal with. But now I'm going
to leave you alone. You go do what you want to do.
and don't come back to me for anything anymore." Can you imagine? This is what the Lord told him. He said, I'm not going to pass
by them anymore in chastisement. Oh dear hearer, does that strike
fear within your heart? Fear that God would leave you
alone? Leave you to yourself? If you
fear God leaving you to yourself. You're a blessed person. I don't want the Lord to leave
me alone. I'm going to tell you something. I need some discipline. I need chastisement. I need His
loving hand of chastisement upon me. Lord, don't let me go the
way I naturally would because I know what I'm doing. I'll leave. But who the Lord loves, He chastens
everyone that He receives. And if you be without chastisement,
what do you mean? That you'll never get sick? Everybody
gets sick. Believers get cancer too. Believers
go through financial trouble too, just like everybody else.
The chastisement that the Lord sends is a chastening in the
heart. I have disobeyed God. I have
done that which is unpleasing. If Almighty God leaves me alone,
I don't have any hope. And I know this, that He's going
to do it to somebody. Lord, have mercy on me. He says
in verse 3 concerning those that care not for His glory and honor. He says, the songs of the temple
shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God. There shall
be many dead bodies in every place. They shall cast them forth
with silence. They're not even going to be
buried. Just no care for them is what He's saying. What do
you mean the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day?
Do you know I grew up in a church that sang the songs of the grace
of God. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. You know when I first started
singing that song? I was probably about that tall.
I sang that song, I sang 2-2-2. There is a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. I sang that song and I never
knew what it meant. The songs of the temple. The
songs of the grace of God. The mercy of God. And he said,
y'all, sing those songs. He said, the songs of the temple.
But he said, I tell you what it's going to be in one day.
It's going to be howlings in that day. When those songs that
you sang where you stood in congregations and sang. He said, there won't
be songs of praise in that day. And then there's a great warning
to those. And I'm not, I'm talking to those
that sit under the sound of the gospel. I'm talking, I'm saying,
well, you know, all those other people out there. All those other
congregations. Let me tell you who I'm talking
to. Let me tell you who the Lord's talking to. He's talking to those
that sit under the sound of the gospel. So don't worry about
talking about everybody else. He's talking to us. He's talking
to us. He's talking to those who stand
in pulpits and who absolutely set forth
that which is seemingly right but have no heart for it. You say, you're telling me that
a man can stand in a pulpit and preach the words of Zion? Yeah. Have you ever known anybody that
stood in a pulpit and preached the words of the gospel, but
left? That preached the word of the
gospel. I can tell you for a fact that
I can come up with an outline that is scripturally right, and
you can't find one thing wrong with it. I'm talking about a
scriptural message, but if Almighty God is not giving me a heart
for it, as Brother Henry said, it's just words. It's just words. But for a man to stand in the
pulpit and to preach Even though he's preaching the truth, the
Lord says, I'm going to reveal your heart. Now this is scary
to me. You say, well Marvin, you're
just preaching. No, I'm telling you the truth now. That's what
I heard Henry say. He said, I'm not preaching to
you, I'm telling you the truth now. is from experience. I have seen
men that at one time stood in places and left. Left. It's not just those that
sit in the congregation. I know of preachers that have
left. Here's what the Lord has to say
to them. I'm talking about to me or you or anybody else that
have stood in pulpits. It's a great, great responsibility
to stand in a pulpit and to preach the gospel. The greater condemnation
is going to come to those that have stood in pulpits and have
set forth God's Word with this attitude. Verses 4 to 6, hear
this. O ye that swallow up the needy,
even to make the poor of the land to fail, saying, When will
the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? And the Sabbath,
that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small and the
shekel great, and falsifying the balances of deceit. That
we may buy the poor for silver, and for needy for a pair of shoes,
yea, and sell the refuge for wheat. The Lord has set forth
that there are those that will even stand in pulpit merchandisers
of men's souls. Preachers. Preachers. That stand
and say, when is all of this going to be over with? So that
I can go through and continue with My business. The business of making merchandise
of men's soul. Just a job. It's just a... When can we continue making money? And the Lord said, I heard what
you said in your heart. And listen to what He's got to
say to them. I'm telling you, pray for me. Pray for me. Listen to what the Lord has to
say. Verse 7, the Lord has sworn by the excellency of Jacob, or
he who is the excellent one of Jacob. The Lord himself has said,
verse 7, surely I will never forget any of their works. I know this, Almighty God has
sworn according to His oath. He's sworn by no greater. He
said, I will have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. Compassion on
whom I'll have compassion. I know this, the one who forgets
the sins of his people has forgiven those sins. but that he would
say, I will never forget your works. What fearful words of condemnation
that Almighty God would send a famine of the hearing of the
words of the Lord and then would say to those that would stand
in pulpits who may proclaim words of truth, but then say in their
hearts, I'll be glad when this is over with so I can get back
to, once I fulfill my obligation right here, I'll be glad when
tomorrow gets here or this afternoon, services will be over, you know,
then I've got the rest of the day, I can do what I want to
do now. Lord help me. Obviously, there are men who
stand in pulpits, preachers, that Almighty God are going to
hold accountable for their works. I just read it, and I know it's
so. But then listen to these words,
verses 8 to 10, "...shall not the land tremble for this? And
every one mourn that dwelleth therein, and it shall rise up
holy as a flood. It shall be cast out and drowned
as by the flood of Egypt. It shall come to pass in that
day, saith the Lord, that I will cause the sun to go down. At
noon I will darken the earth in the clear day, and I will
turn your feast into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation. And I will bring up sackcloth
upon all loins, and baldness upon every head, and I will make
it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a
bitter day." Now when the Lord says, I'm going to sin, the sun's
going to go down at noon. I'm going to send a day when
I'm going to darken the earth in that day. What is he saying?
He is setting forth here that he's going to cause... You know
this scripture, before I make that statement. You know this
scripture. If the light that is in you is darkness, how great
is that darkness. What does he mean? I can understand. I can tell you and I'll bet you
everybody in this congregation right here, pretty much almost
everybody, can tell me what the five points of Calvinism are.
What's the five points of Calvinism? Man is totally depraved. Almighty
God has unconditionally elected a people. Christ Jesus died only
for the elect, limited atonement, particular redemption. Almighty
God irresistibly is going to call out his elect. and he's
going to persevere them in the faith. Man is depraved, God has
an elect people, Christ died for them, the Spirit of God is
going to call them out, and he's going to keep them. I understand
all five points, Neil. I got it right here. I got it
right here. But I can tell you this, if I have no heart for
the gospel, I can tell you all five points, I can quote scriptures,
Pharisees could quote Scriptures. They searched the Scriptures.
They knew the Scriptures. But if I have no heart for the
Word of God, Almighty God says, I'm going to cause the sun to
go down at noon. Do you? The light that you possess
is actually darkness. You understand it in your head,
but it's eclipsed. When religious activity is carried
on with no influence of God's Spirit in the pulpit or the pew, it's nothing more than a sacrifice
of fools that's being offered. And services are nothing more. Now, listen to me. Listen to
me. I had something happen the other
day. I heard I heard that someone
that I know in this town passed away. And my heart sunk. When I was told this person died, I just wanted to weep because
I knew they had no interest in the gospel of God's grace, the
only message that God's going to bless. I knew they didn't.
They'd said they didn't. When I heard they died, I thought,
oh, no. And as soon as they heard that
and grieved, I heard the next day it had been a mistake. They
had not died. They were not doing well. But
they had not died. And I thought, oh, Lord God of
heaven, may it please you to give me one chance to talk to
them and say something to them. Lord, if you'd be pleased. Lord,
you can if you will. You can save them. But I thought
to myself concerning that attitude, if The services are nothing more
than burdens. If prayer is nothing more than
a drudgery, I have no heart, no heart, I have no heart to
start the day reading God's Word. I have no desire whatsoever to
pray If the ordinances, if the partaking of the Lord's table,
the baptism of God's people, the believers called out of darkness,
if it's nothing more than just a tiresome ritual, just, oh may
the Lord be pleased to deliver me from that. It is nothing more
than just going to church. When is this going to be over
with? Isn't he about done? Lord, don't send a famine to
me. Lord, if you leave me to myself
and you take from me any heart for this message, if you remove
from me the very ability to be able to hear, I deserve it. I deserve it. I deserve it. But Lord, please don't do it. Here's the greatest of all judgments
in this world. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will send a famine in the land. Not a famine of
bread, nor thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the
Lord. and they shall wander from sea
to sea, and from the north even to the east, they'll run to and
fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. In that
day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst."
Now you know I got to thinking, how dreadful the thought that
Almighty God would withhold the hearing of the preaching of the
gospel justly, that he would withhold it. And where he withholds
the proclamation of the message of God's free and sovereign grace
in Christ, where he withholds, from my understanding, the explanation
of the scriptures, where he withholds that from a man's hearing in
his heart. He's going to do so absolutely
justly because I'm the one that spitefully treated himself. May the Lord keep us from the
abuse of his bounty to send the gospel here. you that believe. Let me ask
you this. Can you imagine no communion
with God? That Almighty God would be silent
to you. That you would not be able to pray, not be able
to hear, nothing. And here's the sad thing. If
God sends a famine, the preaching goes on. The preaching goes on. Ministers continue to preach
the truth, but without the power of the
Holy Spirit blessing it to your heart. Truth is set forth But
if men are given what they want, and light is deprived, deprived
of the understanding, deprived of an understanding heart. That's
what Solomon, that's what I said last Thursday night. That's what
Solomon asked. The Lord asked Solomon, what
shall I give you? And Solomon said, I pray that you'd give
me a heart of understanding. A hearing heart. The Word of God can be read.
But if there's no true application of it to the heart by the Holy
Spirit, there's a famine. And let me tell you what scares
me. I have seen, and if the Lord
has given me a glimpse of what it's like to have a famine sent
to me, there are times that I have found myself thinking, I'm just
too tired. I'm just too tired. I've been
so busy. Oh, I'll read tomorrow. What if God left me that way,
Fred? What if I had that attitude? I just, right now, I've just
been too busy to seek communion with the Lord. I got to wondering
about that verse 12, "...they shall wander from sea to sea,
from the north to the east, they shall run to and fro, seeking
the word of the Lord, shall not be able to find it." I'm thinking
to myself, why would those to whom the Lord has sent a famine
of the hearing of the words of the Lord be said to wander from
sea to sea and run to and fro and seek the Lord when they've
been sent leanness of heart and it's been revealed to them that
they have no desire for the Lord. Why would they go? Why would
they go? Why would they go? You listen. I know this is so. Man is not
without a conscience. And those that have treated the
words of the Lord with disrespect, those who have been made in their
conscience to perceive God. Being deprived of God's blessing
will go through the motions of seeking His favor. Now let me
prove it with two illustrations. Those that cared nothing for
the things of God. After God gave them what they
wanted, what did Esau do? Esau was the oldest of the two
boys, Jacob and Esau. Esau cared nothing for the birthright. You know, what does that mean?
What does that mean? What do you mean the birthright? It meant
the one that had the birthright in Israel, the Messiah would
come through his lineage. The Messiah would come through
his lineage. And Esau cared nothing for it. And Jacob said, the Lord did
come through Jacob. And Esau said, give me something
to eat. And Jacob said, give me your
birthright. And Esau said, take it. I don't
care. I don't care. Just give me something to eat.
I'm going to die if I don't get me something to eat, boy. And Jacob gave it
to him. And after Esau realized he had
lost his birthright, He started wanting it back. Not because he cared for the
things of God, but he wanted back what he saw Jacob now had.
He sought it to and fro, sea to sea. How about Judas? What
did Judas want? Give me 30 pieces of silver and
I'll sell them out to you. And after the Lord was sold out,
what did Judas do? He came back to the priest and
said, I changed my mind. It's too late. Too late. Listen, those who have no desire
now for the hearing of the Word, those who care nothing for the
things of God, no hunger or thirst after righteousness, listen to
me. One day you will. And you won't
find it. You won't find it. Here's the
greatest of all fears. These last two points are very
short. Here's the greatest of all fears. Here's the greatest
of all fears to me, that God would send me a famine. Psalm 28, 1, unto thee will I
cry, O Lord my rock, be not silent to me. Lest if thou be silent
to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. Let me tell you this, those that
fear God being silent to them, those that fear it, now if it
doesn't matter to you right now, I pray God have mercy on you.
I pray God have mercy on me. But those that fear being left
in silence to Almighty God, know Him. You know Him. I'm going to give you some comfort
here. If it matters to you, Almighty God has done something for you.
If you realize something of the frailty of your own flesh, the
fear of being found in a spiritual famine, with no regard for the
things of God. If you find yourself fearing
that, you're a blessed person. Believers perceive something
of the possibility of God sending a famine to them, but they cry
out for mercy. What are you going to find a
believer doing? Listen, David, as I come to the
end of this, listen to what David said. Here's a believer. This is a believer's heart. Psalm
51, have mercy upon me, O God. According to Thy loving kindness,
according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgressions. Lord, I'm guilty. Lord, I am
guilty. I'm guilty. I'm guilty of everything. I'm guilty, Lord, of treating
you with disrespect. Lord, I've done the same thing
that those that don't love you, that don't care for you. Lord,
I've done the same thing they have. But Lord, that you wouldn't charge
me with it, that you wouldn't impute my guilt to me, and you
would leave another to be charged with his guilt? Wash me throughly
from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin, for I
acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is ever before me.
Lord, I haven't done anything any differently than those that
you've left to themselves. Lord, if you send famine to one,
and you pass by them, and you give not chastising love to them,
and you show it to me, and I've done the same things that they've
done, and there's not an ounce of difference in them and me,
but the grace of God, Lord, thank you. Against Thee,
Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight,
that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear
when Thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me. Purge me with hyssop, and I'll be clean.
Wash me, I'll be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart,
O God, and renew a right spirit in me. Cast me not away from
thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit of instruction, of
teaching, of correction. Take not thy Holy Spirit from
me. Lord, I deserve anything that you give me, but I'm asking
you right now. Lord, don't send a famine to
me. Have mercy on this congregation. And here's my last point, the
greatest mercy, the greatest mercy. My God says to His people, I
shall supply all your need according to my riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. I want you to listen to this
greatest Word of comfort. Now you're talking to a guilty
sinner right here. You're looking at him. I don't
know. I don't know where you are. But
let me tell you where I am. I have treated him disrespectfully.
I'm not looking at you saying y'all shouldn't have done that.
I'm saying I shouldn't have done it. But Almighty God would give
me a heart to cry out for mercy. Him that cometh to me, I'm not
going to cast out. Lord, don't cast me out. Lord,
these sheep, have mercy on them. I want you to listen to this
precious word of mercy to God's people. I'm talking about guilty
people. Ain't nobody in here not guilty.
Ain't nobody in here blameless. Nobody in here has not done exactly
what God judged some for. Only difference is the grace
of God, I'm going to tell you right now. Ain't nothing good
in us. So let's don't get all high and mighty and think, well,
I tell you what, I'm glad I stayed faithful. No, you didn't. No,
you didn't. It's by the grace of God that
God's kept us. But you listen to this word of
comfort. Isaiah 30, verses 18 to 21. Therefore will the Lord
wait, that He may be gracious unto
you." The Lord is going to be waiting to be gracious. And we'll
be exalted that He may have mercy upon you. You know who mercy
comes to? Guilty people. For the Lord is a God of judgment.
Blessed are all they that wait for Him. For the people shall
dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. Thou shalt weep no more. Now
listen to these next words. He will be very gracious unto
thee at the voice of thy cry. That's what David was doing.
Lord have mercy on me. Lord wash me throughly. He will be very gracious unto
thee at the voice of thy cry. When he shall hear it, he will
answer thee. And though the Lord give you
the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet shall
not thy teachers be removed into a corner anymore, but thine eyes
shall see thy teachers, and thine ears shall hear a word behind
thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to
the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." You know what the
Lord has said? He said, for you that I've everlastingly loved,
for you that I've given a heart for me, for you that cry out
for mercy and say, Lord, I'm guilty. I'm the guilty party.
I'm not good in myself, and I know I'm not good in myself. Lord,
I'm asking you for mercy. I'm asking you to, Lord, forgive
me. He said, this is what I'm going
to do for you. He said, I'm not going to take your teachers away
from you. I'm going to send the gospel
to you. And I'm going to give you a heart to believe it. And I'm going to keep you. And
I'm going to teach you. I'm going to send a famine to
those that I'm going to leave to themselves. Those that will
not hear. And I know this. If he left me
to myself, I'd do the same thing. But for those that He's everlastingly
loved in Christ, He said, I'm going to have mercy to you. Now,
let me ask you this. I gave you this the other day.
I'm going to tell you again. I've been studying this last
Thursday night. How can I know that I might have
a part in God's mercy? Can I have any kind of hope that
God's done something for me? There was a man named Manoah.
I'll just rehearse what I just told you Thursday night. And
his wife was barren. His wife couldn't have children.
And the angel of the Lord, the angel of the Lord that came to
her was the angel of the covenant himself. It was the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he came and he told Manoah's wife, He said, you're
going to have a son, you're going to bear. She's barren, she couldn't
have kids. He said, you're going to bear
a son. You know what her son's name
was? Samson. Samson was sent by God
to be a judge, a ruler in Israel. He said, I'm going to give you
a boy. And Manoah's wife came and told Manoah, she said, this
man came, told him that it was the angel of the Lord. And Manoah
asked if the angel of the Lord might come back, this man might
come back. And the Lord did come back and
met with him. And Manoah asked him his name. And Manoah, when he asked his
name, the angel says, My name is secret. That is wonderful. Counselor, the mighty God, the
everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And Manoah offered, and
his wife offered unto the Lord an offering. And the scripture
says, and the angel did wondrously. And Manoah and his wife looked
on, for it came to pass when the flame went up toward heaven,
off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame
of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked
on and fell on their faces to the ground. If that would not
have been the Lord Jesus Christ, that angel would have never ascended
in that sacrifice. That was given unto the Lord.
That was the Lord Himself. And this is what Manoah said.
We've seen the Lord. We're going to die. We're going
to die because we've seen God, and this is what Manoah's wife
said, and this is the word of comfort to God's people this
morning. If the Lord were pleased to kill us, He would not have received a
burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would He
have showed us all these things, nor would, as at this time, have
told us such things as these." Now, I'm going to tell you something.
If Almighty God was pleased to have killed you, let me tell
you what He would have done. He would have left you alone. He would have left you alone,
left you to yourself. If Almighty God has given you
a heart tender to the things of God, Tender to the mercy of
God. Tender to recognize your need
of forgiveness. Here again, I'm talking to guilty
sinners here. I'm talking to guilty sinners.
If you see yourself in need, and the Lord's given you a heart
to cry out for mercy, you're a blessed person. The Lord has
not left you to yourself. You call out for mercy unto the
Lord, and He will have mercy. He said, I will. He delights
to show mercy. If Almighty God's given you a
concern for Him, I'm so thankful. I pray He do so for me, for Christ's
sake. Amen.